It was the biggest game so far this season for both Flagstaff and Coconino, and there was no question what was on the line as soon as the Eagles won the opening tipoff.

Flagstaff took the bragging rights -- at least until these two teams meet again on Feb. 1 -- as well as its possible playoff life in its own hands with a huge 65-51 win over the Panthers.

In their sixth straight power points win since the end of December, the Eagles (6-3) will surely improve upon its No. 23 ranking in the Division II power points.

Coconino, No. 12 as of press time, absorbed its first power points loss at the hands of the Eagles.

In order to make the playoffs, Flagstaff will have to go through the Panthers once more, something that head coach James Kirk said is no easy task.

"Our guys lost their first three power points game by two points each but they've kept going," he said. "We can't live on this win; we need to keep moving on. We'll enjoy the win, but it's right back to work."

Both teams had trouble getting started, though the Panthers took an 18-11 edge after the first quarter. The Eagles found their niche in front of a standing-room-only gym at Coconino High School in the second quarter, outscoring the Panthers 17-6. Coconino doomed itself by fouling the Eagles in the paint, and Flagstaff made 30 of 44 free throws Tuesday.

"It took us a whole quarter, but we finally got started in the second quarter, and that's just this game," Kirk said. "It took some time for both teams to get going, and it's just such a big game in front of such a big crowd."

Trevor Johnson was held to just five points in the first half -- all scored at the free-throw line -- but caught fire in the second half to finish with a team-high 24 points. Johnson punctuated the Eagles' win with a big two-handed slam dunk in the fourth quarter after a Flagstaff steal, and added six rebounds, two assists and two steals to his night.

Kirk said the Eagles' plan was to use an aggressive attack in the paint against Coconino, something that paid off with trip after trip to the free-throw line.

"We had 13 points at the free-throw line in the first half and we stayed aggressive in the second half, though I was afraid we wouldn't," Kirk said. "We kept attacking the rim and good things happened."

Bailey Stephens added 10 points and five rebounds to go with a team-high five steals.

"We did a great job of moving the ball and getting to the rim once the lane opened up," Kirk said.

Flagstaff's defense did a good job of containing Coconino's triple-threat offense of Andy Bonner, Josh Ingram and Skyler Zweifel for the most part. Bonner scored a team-high 20 points (he added four rebounds), but Ingram was held to 10 points and Zweifel added just one.

"Those are big boys, they're good on the post though we wanted to do a better job on the post," Kirk said of Coconino's interior players. "We got pushed around in there a little bit, and sometimes it's hard to compete against them in there."

Flagstaff will get the home-court advantage when the two teams meet again on Feb. 1.

The Panthers travel to Tuba City to play Greyhills at 7:30 p.m. tonight and host Mohave at 7 p.m. Thursday, while Flagstaff goes to Sedona Red Rock at 7 p.m. today and Winslow at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Bill Harris can be reached at bharris@azdailysun.com or 556-2251.